Various types of battery chargers are known in the art. Generally, an automobile battery charger converts a 120-volt (V), 60-Hz AC-line, to a 12-volt DC output through a power transformer, a bridge rectifier, and a filter. The power transformer generally comprises two separate windings that are magnetically coupled to each other. The first winding is connected to the 120V AC-line and the second winding is connected to the bridge rectifier. Through the selection of an appropriate turn ratio, the AC-line voltage is stepped down to a 12-volt AC-line output. The bridge rectifier converts this stepped down AC-line output to a rectified output. Further, eliminating any time-varying magnitudes of the rectified output through a filter, the output of the battery charger may be stabilized and thereby suitable for charging a battery.
For example, commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 7,528,579 discloses a high frequency battery charger that includes a converter, drive logic, and control logic, while U.S. Pat. No. 8,237,412 discloses a method of charging a battery whereby the charging current is alternated between non-zero DC charging current levels. As battery chargers increase in sophistication, additional features have been implemented. For example, commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 8,576,899 discloses a voltage detection system that automatically determines the nominal voltage (e.g., 6 volt or 12 volt) of the battery connected to its battery charger terminals and charges the battery as a function of the detected nominal voltage irrespective of the nominal voltage selected by a user. Further, commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 8,576,899 discloses a hybrid battery charger that includes a linear battery charging circuit for providing vehicle starting current and battery charging and a high frequency battery charging circuit that provides battery charging current. Battery chargers may, in addition to charging a battery, provide protective and safety features. For example, commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 7,834,593 discloses a protection system and method for detecting a thermal runaway condition in a battery during charging in order to protect the battery when such a thermal runaway condition has been detected.
Such battery charger may further provide a display to output the status of the battery or the battery charge. However, because the battery charger must typically be coupled to the battery that is being charged, such as coupling a vehicle to a battery charger in a garage, the user cannot remotely monitor or control the battery charger. Thus, despite the prior attempts to improve battery chargers, a need exists for a system, method, and apparatus for remotely monitoring or controlling a battery charger.